To Think That it All Started, Because of a Bouquet
by a-apple
Summary: It all started when he tried to pick out the perfect bouquet for his crush, little did he know that doing this would lead him to love the rival of his 'crush'. Ino/Naruto pairing. rated teen just to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**well here's a new story i decided to write, since the idea just sorta popped into my head;i was gonna try to make it a one shot but i just wouldn't work out, well tell me what you think about it...ENJOY!**

Ino stood behind the counter, as she waited for another customer to come, this was rather unusual since it was very close to Valentine's day the store was very packed with people of all different ages, this week was very interesting as she guessed who the flowers were for. She laughed as she remembered Kiba blushing as she brought up Hinata, and Lee having the most prideful smile on his face as he went on about Sakura grabbing the largest bouquet of red carnations he could find. Sometimes she could see Shikamara glancing at the store as he walked by, _'probably trying to find a time when im not taking care of this business'_. Suddenly the door opened and Ino shot up with a cheerful smile "Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop! how..." suddenly a tuff of blonde hair could be seen walking her way "ohh hey Naruto, looking for something for Sakura?" she sighed this was a yearly routine, and this year would probably be the same as the others.

Naruto looked her way and then shifted his gaze back at the flowers, "yeah I'm just trying to find the right thing to get her" not seeming satisfied he walked up to the counter "hey Ino can you take me out back to see some of the other flowers?" he asked thinking of some of the flowers that she could like.

Ino blinked in surprise usually everyone found what they needed inside of the store "uhh sure" she said walking towards the back of shop, he followed her and looked at all of the beautiful colors that the flowers had. He seemed to be looking for certain type. Naruto was beginning to get frustrated _'this is a flower shop for crying out loud! they should at least have this...',_ "Ahh hah!" he said walking over to the white flowers with a yellow center.

"You want Jonquil flowers?" she asked seeming surprised "do you even know what they mean?"

"Yeah i know" he said with his famous smirk

She gave him a skeptical look but just shrugged her shoulders "ook if you say so", she began to walk back inside and waited at the register so Naruto could pay for the flowers. She raised an eyebrow as she saw Naruto come in empty handed "where's the flowers?".

"Out in the back, i was wondering if i would be able to get them in a bouquet" he replied rubbing the back of his head.

She folded her arms "we can but you do know that it gonna cost right?" , she looked at his face to see the reaction.

"Yeah i know it's no biggie, as long as it's done soon" he said walking towards the door "see ya later Ino" he walked out leaving Ino to her own thoughts _'i don't think i'll ever understand him'_ she tapped her fingers, and looked at the time it was already 12 noon which meant she wouldn't have to be in this boring place soon. '_ Only one more hour'_ she thought to herself, then she could have the rest of the day off, she began to think of what she could do for the rest of the day 'maybe i'll go ask Sakura if she wants to spar' she rolled her eyes at the thought of training, he parents never let her go by herself. How the heck was she suppose to get better if she barley had time to train. Suddenly a whole bunch of young kids came running inside of the shop.

Ino looked puzzle "umm can i help you?" she asked looking at the younger children.

The small girl turned around "we're here to look for something for our mommy can you help us?" she asked wiping her nose.

Ino smiled at the sweet kids "sure i'll help you pick out the right one" she walked over to them and pointed out what some of the flowers meant. Finally they all found something they agreed on and walked out the store. Ino looked at the time 12:31. _' only a few more minutes'_ looking outside, she once again saw Shikamaru walking in front of the shop. "Hey Shikamaru, how come your always staring in here and never come in" she asked with her hands on her hips.

He raised an eyebrow and took his hands out of his pockets "i don't know, just don't feel like it but i guess i should before it's to late" he walked in right past her and began to look at all of the flowers he finally stopped and looked at some of the beautiful orchrids. Ino waited behind the counter and Shikamaru appeared with the beautiful flowers.

A smirk came on her face as she was getting ready to tease him "you sure they will reach Temari on time before they begin to die?" she said chuckling, he slammed the money and ran so she wouldn't see the blush on his face. She began to laugh and he quickly left the shop._'Troublesome'_ he thought holding the flowers tight. Ino stopped laughing when her father walked in.

"Alright Ino, you can go now if you want i'll let you go a few minutes earlier "Inoichi said smiling.

Ino ran to her father and kissed his cheek "thank you daddy!" she yelled running out of the store, '_ she must have really wanted to go'_ he thought as he saw how fast his daughter ran out of the store.

The blond dashed down the street as she search for Sakura _'where is she?'_ Ino ran to her house only to be greeted by her mom. "Hello Mrs. Haruno is Sakura around?".

The older woman just gave a small smile "no sorry dear she said that she would be out with a couple of friends at her favorite resterant this afternoon" Ino once again took off running giving a small wave.

"Thanks Mrs. Haruno!" she yelled as she continued to run, she knew what he favorite place to eat was and it wasn't that far from her house. Ino came just on time as she saw Sakura walking out, followed by Naruto, Lee, and Tenten. Ino felt a tinge of annoyance for a second _' how come i wasnt invited to go?_' but she just brushed the feeling off. "Hey Sakura!" she called out causing the pink haired girl to look her way. Ino walked over to her "wanna spar for a bit?" she asked slightly out of breath, she watched as both Lee and Tenten waved and walked off. Leaving only three of them.

Sakura was about to answer when Naruto said something first "hey did ya get my order ready yet!" he exclaimed with a cheeky grin.

A vein popped out of Ino forehead "get off my back will ya! dont worry it'll be done by tomarrow" she then switched her attention back to Sakura who had a questioning look. _'Probably wondering what we're talking about, nosy as always'_. "So do you wanna spare or what?" she asked slightly annoyed at the awkward silence between them.

Sakura seem to snap back to reality "yeah, yeah, i haven't kicked your butt in a while anyway, ready to lose Ino?" she asked knowing that it would upset the blond girl.

"What ever billboard brow, you're the one who's going to lose" she snorted

Sakura fumed "we'll just see about that Ino-pig!" she shouted as both of them raced off, leaving a confused Naruto all by himself _'uhh what just happened?'_ he shrugged his shoulders and followed them since he had nothing else to do. He was already prepared to hear yelling and screaming.

**And that was the first chapter, hopefully i'll continue this story since i have a tendency to stop one story for another. Please tell me what you think about it, i actually did my research to find out what some of the flowers meen. Review please!.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well here's the second chapter...enjoy!**

_'How do i get myself into this?'_he smacked his face as he watched what the girls called 'sparring', as much as these two fight he was expecting to see some action not hear a bunch of insults that could be heard from a mile away. Finally he had enough of hearing their ruckus "hey c'mon! arn't you guys suppose to be training!" he yelled becoming upset, this is not what he planned to see.

Both Sakura and Ino turned to look at the blond haired boy, who once again interrupted them for the second time today. Sakura sent him a death glare and Naruto felt a chill go up his spine _'oh man!'_he tried to move but it was to late "NARUTO!" the pink haired girl was already walking towards him "Why are you even here anyway! you're just gonna mess me up, why don't you get lost!" she yelled strangling him, causing poor Naruto to feel light headed.

"Uhh sorry Sakura-Chan..." he managed to get out before Ino interrupted him.

"Ohh there's no need to apologize to her" Ino opened one eye and quirked her head to the side "she has been stalling, i guess she's just to scared to fight" she felt her lips twitch and an evil smirk came on her face _'it really is fun to bother her'_.

Naruto's jaw dropped and he slowly looked at Sakura, even he knew better not to mess with her when she was already in an angry state. Sakura's eye's were hidden, and he hands shook and balled up at her side, suddenly she shouted "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO WAS STALLING AND WASTING MY TIME!! SHEESH I CAME ALL THE WAY OUT HERE TO HEAR YOUR BIG MOUTH YOU STUPID PIG!" she pointed a finger at Ino who was also ready getting riled up.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FOREHEAD! YOU WERE STALLING, YOU'RE JUST AFRAID TO ADMIT THAT I'M BETTER THAN YOU INFRONT OF HIM!" she snapped back pointing at the other blond.

"Don't bring me into this!" Naruto shouted as he started to back away.

Sakura's attention soon was back on him "ohh no you don't, thanks to Ino here you're gonna see which is the better ninja" she said dragging him back by his jacket, fake tears in his eyes _'oh man'_ this was going to be a long evening.

Finally after four hours of torment Naruto was finally able to enjoy the peace, he sighed as he continued to walk towards his favorite place. _'I deserve a few bowls of ramen today' _he was nearly dragging his feet remembering the events that had just happened. Finally after the two had finished sparing, the both ran over to him dirty and sweaty asking him which one was better. He was going to go with Sakura but he figured that she was going to think that it was another attempt to get her to go with him; it wasn't that Ino was bad, she was only a step behind Sakura. So in the end he just told them that they both we're the same when it came down to being a ninja, and for some odd reason that also seemed to get them going. After fifteen minutes of arguing both just decided to go there separate ways leaving Naruto once again, by himself. Finally he reached Ichiraku Ramen Bar and sat on the stool, soon Teuchi came out. "what can i get you Naruto?" he asked a kind smile on his face.

Naruto just waved his hand slightly "the usual" he said resting his head on his hands.

"Two extra large bowls of pork ramen" he said to himself as he walked towards the pot. Naruto couldn't wait till he could eat the food and go to sleep, suddenly a realization hit him.

"Ahh darn it i didn't train, Ero-sesnsi is suppose to be coming really soon" he said rubbing his temples, there was always tomarrow.

Ino had finally reached her house after that stupid match _'man I'm beat'_she thought heading towards the shower, as much as she hate to admit it Sakura may have been the better of them. She undressed and turned on the hot water for the shower, as stepped inside she thought about the events after they have gotten done sparring. As they watched Naruto, she could see different emotions cross his feature's before he stopped to stare at Sakura for a moment, at first she thought he was going to announce her as the better ninja but then his eyes flicked back towards her; finally he had come on the decision of choosing both of them which angered her. _'He could at least have told the truth'_she wouldn't mind Sakura getting called the better one, because she probably would have thought it was just to get her out on a date of something. _'Maybe that's why he hesitated...'_ she turned off the water and stepped out, quickly getting dressed into comfortable clothes she laid on her bed and and began to doze off 'small nap never hurt anyone' her eye's closed and she quickly fell asleep.

**Sry that it was pretty short but i barley have enough time (due to one of my teachers) im not allowed to really use the computer, and for Ino Naruto interaction i know that there wasn't any here but i promise there will be more in the next two chapters so just stick around, as for sp i can improve on that sry people for being so sloppy but grammer is a major issue for me even in school so right now you're just gonna have to deal with it. Review please**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't think i put a lot of effort into this chapter so it may not be as good as the others, but i think that's ok...except for grammer. Now please enjoy**

Naruto yawned, waking up . He sat up slowly looking outside, today was 'the day', "better go get ready" he said walking over to his bathroom, he freshened himself up trying to look good as possible. Hopefully today Sakura would give him a chance, he didn't wear the head-guard, knowing that he would look better without it. Naruto walk down the street passing the ramen shop as if it wasn't even there; that's when any citizen that knew the blond could tell that something was wrong. He walked to the other side of town and was heading to the Yamanaka flower shop, when he reached the shop he was not surprised to see that was still not open, it was pretty early when he left his house it was only 7:00 when he left the apartment building. He sighed and looked at the time notice suddenly an irritated look came on his face and he pouted, _'the store is suppose to be open by 7:00, what the heck is taking them so long?'_. Suddenly he could hear the sound of steps coming closer; he looked up to see what appeared to be a sleep walking Ino, she walked right past him as if he didn't even exist. Slowly Ino unlocked the shop and walked inside. Naruto eyes narrowed "uhh hello?" he asked annoyed.

Slowly Ino turned her head and squinted her eyes, even seeing seemed to be difficult for her. It took her a moment to respond "ohh hey Naruto" she was oblivious to the iritation in his voice.

Ino acted as if nothing was wrong and it was really starting to get to Naruto, he walked inside right after her and looked at the store's clock "you do know you were suppose to be here a half an hour ago" he voice raised with every word.

This time she did notice, Ino turned back to him with fury in her eyes, she was not a morning person and was not about to put with his attitude. "Look you either take your freaking flowers or not!" she snapped pointing at his bouquet on the counter.

Naruto just grumbled and reached into his pocket pulling out the cash "what ever" he snorted walking out of the store. He didn't need to deal with this, it was just going to ruin his day.

Ino cooled down and watched as the blond haired boy storm out of the shop,she then remembered why he was doing all this in the first place. Ino suddenly felt guilty for yelling at Naruto ,it wasn't his fault he didn't know, she felt the urge to say something to him "hey Naruto!" she called out, he turned around and looked at her, his eyes still held the irritated look but she just ignored it , she lightly jogged towards him "sorry for yelling at you like that I'm just not a morning person, and i was running a bit late, dealing with that and having someone get angry at you first thing in the morning is just something no one wants to happen" she said with her hands behind her back.

Naruto suddenly felt the anger begin to slip away quickly as Ino apologized , he felt a small tug at his lips and a small smile came upon his face "Uhh its no problem, it was my fault for raising my voice anyway" it was amazing how happy the boy could become after almost getting in an argument

As he turned around Ino remembered something "ohh yeah! and Naruto" this time he just turned his head to face her this time the look was gone, a small sincere smile graced her lips "good luck" she said with small determination in her voice.

Naruto raised an eyebrow _'It's almost as if she wants me to be with Sakura'_ he chuckled having his usual cheeky grin and held up his thumb " thanks Ino" he said before running off. Ino smiled as she walked back towards the shop, as soon as she settled down back to the usual spot, she saw a figure with neon orange on rush into the store.

"What is it this time?"she asked seeing him out of breath.

He walked to the end of the counter and grabbed his bouquet, "i almost forgot my flowers" he said rubbing the back of his head; for some reason this made Ino laugh causing Naruto to blush from embarrassment. He quickly walked out as the blond girl began to laugh louder _'weirdo'_ he thought as he left the shop _'hopefully nobody comes in right now or think she's crazy'_. He soon snapped out of his thought as he saw his favorite pink haired kunoichi walking near the shops, which unlike 20 minutes ago was crowded with people. As Naruto studied Sakura he noticed that she already had a bouquet in her hands _'probably from fuzzy brows'_, he looked down in the one in his 'would she like it?' his grip tightened on the bouquet, of coarse she would, she had to...right?. Naruto took in a deep breath and began to walk towards her, it was now or never. Ino watched from inside of the shop as she saw Naruto walking towards Sakura, she didn't know why but something about this seemed to catch her attention _'c'mon Naruto, you can do this'. _He slowly made his way ove to her "umm Sakura?", she slowly began to turn around.

"Yes Naruto?" she asked a bit a iritatted, she was really getting tired of having to tell him all the time.

Naruto did not miss the hint that she didn'y want to be bothered but decided to continue "i was wondering if you wanted to go out with me?" he forced a smile preparing for the concequences.

Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples _' when is he ever going to learn'_ "No Naruto i tell you this all the time, if i just told you last week what makes you think i would change my mind this week?!" she yelled causing Naruto to flinch.

" I...here these are for you" he shoved the bouquet in her hands and walked off looking down at the side walk. Sakura sighed, she didn't want to be so harsh but it seemed like the only way he would learn, she turned back around and begin to walk back home, so she wouldn't have to carry the bouquets. Ino looked sad as she watched what had just happened between the two _'poor Naruto'_ she knew that he barley had any money, and just to have spent it on flowers for no reason... she ran out the shop not caring what her parent said and began to walk over to him. '_ Guess i'll be the one to cheer him up'_, she thought as she made her way over towards the sad blond haired boy.

**Once again I apologize for the shortness of the chap, as you can see Ino and Naruto(in this story anyway) already have a friendship bond which will make it a lot easier to put them together,and just to let you know Sakura will not be a bad person in this story even though the rejection was a bit harsh. Well that's all i have to say...oh yea and one more thing REVIEW PLEASE!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well here's the fourth chapter to my story i hope you guys enjoy!**

Ino began to pick up the pace as more and more people began to crowd the streets, she saw Naruto turn the corner she began to jog towards him now that he was out of her sight. Suddenly a couple blocked the way and Ino was becoming upset, the blond jumped onto the roof tops searching for Naruto _'damn where did he go?'_she continued to search, jumping from roof to roof when she saw and orange clad figure pass right by her, also jumping on the roofs. She didn't even have to think "Naruto!" she screamed turning around preparing to chase after him even though he could probably outrun her.

Naruto came to a skidding halt when he heard his name called "huh?" he turned around and recognized the face "oh hey Ino" he said with no emotion, as much as he enjoyed the girl's company right now wasn't the time. She watched as different emotions could be seen in his eye's, she had to get a grip as her hand was about to reach out for him. Naruto was beginning to feel strange in the occurred moment of silence, he was expecting her to say something, "well umm...bye Ino" he said with a weird expression on his face.

Hearing him made Ino snap back to reality "ohh umm wait...i was wondering if you wanted to go out to" she paused for a second thinking of where to go "to go get a bite to eat!" she exclaimed hopefully.

"Umm i not really in the mood right no..." Naruto was cut off by Ino.

She grabbed him by the back of his shirt "alright then let's go" she didn't ditch the shop for nothing, Naruto sighed and looked miserable _'might as well get it over with'._When she finally let him go he was surprised to see that they were right in front of his favorite ramen place, his mood lightened at the thought of eating as much pork ramen as he could. Ino saw how bright his eyes were and knew what that meant "I'm only buying you three bowls max got that" she said sternly.

Naruto head dropped "yeah OK" he said disappointed, Ino's eye brow twitched and she walked inside the shop followed by a hungry blond haired boy, they both sat on the stalls and waited for someone to take the order, the whole time they were waiting Ino stared at Naruto, he seemed to be in deep thought and she wondered if it would be ok to tell him how she saw what happened between him and Sakura. Ayame came from the pot and walked over to the two blonds. "hey where's the old man?" Naruto questioned looking around for him.

Ayame smiled "don't worry he just went out to get a few things" it was then when she noticed a new customer she had never seen before, a mishchivious smile crept on her lips. "Ok Naruto what can i get for you and you're girlfriend?" she almost choked trying to stop a laugh as she watched as a small blush came on Naruto's face and a shocked look on Ino's.

"Uhh no you got it all wrong we're just here as friends is all" he said waving his hands he quickly decided to order "I'll have three servings of pork ramen", she gave him a skeptical look but decided to leave him alone.

"And what can i get for you?"she said looking at Ino.

Ino looked at the menu " i'll have one small serving of diet ramen" she watched as Ayame give a small smile and headed back for the pot.

Naruto looked as if he had seen a ghost "that's all your going to eat!?" he had a look of amazement on his face.

Ino nearly snorted "uhh yea, this stuff isn't good for you" she rolled her eye's at the look on his face. Naruto shrugged and looked at the fresh bowl of ramen that was set right in front of him, he greedily slurped it down leaving nothing but an empty dish, in less than one minute.

"Ahh, next one" Ino nearly dropped her bowl _'how did he finish so fast?'_ she watched in awe as he finished the next one just as fast. _'Maybe now is a good time'_ she took a deep breath as he began to eat his third bowl.

"Naruto i saw...what happened between you and Sakura" the sound of slurping noodles stopped and a worried look came on her face.

Naruto put his bowl down and didn't look back up "so you doing this because you just feel sorry huh?" he wasn't hungry anymore, he got up from the stool and looked away "i don't need your stinkin pity" he said coldly and began to walk out of the place.

Ino jumped out of her stool "Wait Naruto!" she slammed the money not even counting how much she left "it's not like that!"she said becoming angry, sometimes he could be so hard headed, "i did this because it made me upset that all of your effort was for nothing!, i was hoping she could be a bit easier on you, i did this because..." _'because you deserve better'_for some reason she couldn't finish her sentence. Saying this was so unlike her, but she realized how much of a good person Naruto was, he seemed to always put other people first before himself; she didn't like him in that way but he was still a friend.

"Because what!?" he snapped, he tried to hide the shakiness in his voice "I'm leaving" he took of as fast as he could, leaving Ino all by herself _'another rough day' _she looked up at the sky before making her way back to the shop '_ maybe i shouldn't have said anything'_.

**And that's is the fourth chapter to my story, thank you all of the people who comment my story i know that i have to make the chapters longer, but i can't promise you that they will be. Other than that please tell me about this chapter and i will see what i can improve on.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok here's the new chapter to my story i hope you enjoy but i must say that i didn't put all my effort into this, it's not that I'm becoming lazy with this story it's just that i have been very busy so sry.**

Ino took her time walking back to her family shop, the last thing she wanted to hear was her parents mouth knowing that they would be upset that she left without even giving them a reason. She pushed back the memory of the incident and focused on other things like..._'why didn't I get anything for Valentine's Day!_' this never happened, she was one of the prettiest girls in town which meant that she was at least supposed to have a secret admirer. Ino was practically fuming 'stupid day, can things really get any worse?'. She had to ask, he father some how appeared behind her without her even noticing.

"Ino you have some explaining to do, why would you leave the shop like that you know how important this business is," his rambling was making Ino more upset by the minute.

She rolled her eyes before facing him, putting on a fake smile "Sorry daddy, i just had to help out...a friend" she watched as her father face scrunch up, and gave her a skeptical look.

"You better be telling the truth" he face was serious "are we're going to have to do this the hard way?".

Ino gulped did he really think that she had forgotten that he was a mind reader also. " No daddy! I am telling the truth honestly!" she squeked.

Her father then smiled "O.K. sweet heart i believe you, but for leaving without asking you know how to work longer until the end of the week. Now let's go home and see what your mother is making,".

Ino clenched her teeth and deeply inhaled to keep from shouting, she really did dislike working at her family business it could get really boring at times especially now that nobody needed to buy flowers anymore. She looked behind her at the ramen shop before following her father, preparing herself for the rest of the day's work. She decided that it would be better to forget about the situation and try to make the rest of the day positive. Ino wasn't going to let some stupid incident ruin her day, she had better things to do like... "alright Ino, lucky for you there is only a few more hours before I close the shop," _'that'_ she thought sarcastically, hopefully their wouldn't be a lot of costumers to bother her because she suddenlly didnt feel like being bothered at the moment. She walked in and tapped her fingers this was going to be a long two hours.

Naruto continued to jump from roof to roof thinking about what had just happened, he didn't want to be so harsh but he didn't want to talk or hear about _'her'_ right now. No matter how many times he got rejected it still hurt 'a lot'. He sighed he was hoping that she would at least give it some thought and she didn't have to be so cruel. _' Maybe I did something wrong '_, he pushed the thought in the back of his head. There was no point to think about something that was going to make him feel down. Ino abruptly popped into his head, he didn't want her to be mad at him it wasn't her fault. He didn't want to have to lose her also even if he didn't really talk to her and they weren't the closest of friends he really wanted to get to know her, especially since she got herself in trouble just to come confront him._ ' I have to do something'_, he hopped to the flower shop and peered inside, there was Ino who was looking bored and as ever. He had to keep himself from chuckling at the sight of the spunky, loud, energetic young teen. It was then he decided what he was going to do. Naruto quickly ran to the gift shop buying a small, cute, purple stuffed bear. He then went to the Yamanaka house hold and knocked on the door. He was then greeted by who had a wide grin on her face. "Hi Mrs. Yamanka, i was wondering if you could let Ino off for the rest of the day?" he asked a little creeped out by the look on her face.

"Oh and why would you want that to happen dear?" She asked slyly "You want to spend time with my daughter?" her grin was getting larger "Ino never told me about her little friend...".

"N..No ii...it's not like that i just need to get something without her noticing" Naruto was chocking on his words_ 'what is up with the ladies today? always assuming things'._

A puzzled look came across her features "ohh i guess, but why?" she asked confused

Naruto looked down and rubbed the back of his head "I...I need to get her something important" he seemed to be saying it to himself.

She nodded her head understandingly "Sure thing dear, I'll take over for her the shop is about to close soon anyway..."

"Thanks !" his cheery voice startled her, _'how strange'_ Naruto once again took off leaving her in the dust. She began to make her way over to the shop.

When Mrs. Yamanaka reached the flower shop, Ino was seemed to be taking a lite nap on the counter _'guess we shouldn't really let her take care of the shop'_ she shook her daughter's shoulder who immediately propped up.

"Oh hey mom" she said wiping her eyes, Mrs. Yamanaka chuckled which confused Ino. Shouldn't she be getting yelled at right now for falling asleep on the job?

"Ino, I'm going to allow you to have the rest of the day off" she came straight to the point.

Her jaw dropped "Umm ok but why?" this had to be some sort of set up.

"Because you deserve it dear, and beside a blond boy came to the house today. He asked for you to have the day off" she said walking behind the counter.

_'Naruto?'_ she begin to think of the reasons why he would want her to have the rest of the day off, _'I have to talk to him'_, "Ok mom by thanks" she slowly exited the store and took her time walking to her house.

When Ino was out of sight, Naruto came off of the roof and walked into the store "Thanks Mrs." he began to search already knowing the pefect flowers to get. He walked into the first aisle and immediately spotted the flowers in the middle _'probably for valentines day'_. He grabbed the prettiest bouquet and ran to the register.

Ino's mom raised an eyebrow "you have been doing your research?".

Naruto gave a cheeky grin "Yep!" he began to take out the money but she waved her hands.

"It's fine dear" she said pushing him out the store "it is for my daughter ".

He gave her a puzzled look but just shrugged his shoulder's "Uhh OK thanks" he quickly made his way to his apartment with the bear and the bouquet, he found a pen on his floor and quickly wrote something down on the small paper connected to the bear. "She'll like this!" he smiled and made his way to her house, he jumped onto the roof and peeked inside of one of the windows. Lucky for him the room was Ino's that he could tell from the color of the place _'Almost the whole thing is purple!'_ he could see a movement at the corner of his eye, he quickly turned his head and what he saw almost made his eyes pop out in amazement, there was a sleeping Ino who's long blond hair was spread around her looked just as soft as the white sheets beneath her, her round moist lips slightly parted with each breath she took, and her smooth creamy skin that looked so soft to touch. _'Beautiful...'_ Naruto shook his head and cleared his mind this was not why he was here! he didn't want her to wake up and think he was some kind of pervert. He set the bouquet and the stuffed bear down in a nice position where it wouldn't look sloppy and gently tapped on her window, when he heard her stir he took off and headed back to his place.

Ino woke up to the sound of a noise coming from her window, she suppressed the urge to groan couldn't she get some peaceful sleep! She dragged her feet to the window only to see that no one was there. She opened the window and looked out _'what the heck?_' she was about to turn around and go back to sleep when something purple caught her eye. Her curiosity got the best of her and she gently landed on her roof, she picked up the stuffed bear and bouquet and jumped back into her room. She was fully awake now and happy that she actually did get something. She read the small card that was connected to the Bear's ear and a large smile came upon her lips _'Naruto...'_. He went out of his way to get something for her on Valentine's Day and a bouquet to go with it. _' purple Hyacinth's?'_ he must have thought..._'Poor Naruto'_ she quickly got a vase for the flowers and lied down with the bear in her hand,she soon fell asleep with the stuffed bear in her hands and a smile on her face.

**Sry everyone that i havn't updated in a week but school right now is a more important subject if you want me to continue. I know that this chap might seemed a bit rushed by i wasn't bad...well to me anyways. Now another important question is...should i make this take place during the genin days or now during shippuden? i really dont know which one i should make it so please help me on this decision.**


	6. Chapter 6

Ino woke up the next morning, holding something soft against her she instantly held it tighter as if it would disappear, she inhaled through her nose _'something familiar'_. After laying in bed for an extra ten minutes she decided to get up and clean herself up. She felt a lot better than yesterday remembering the small gifts she had received from a certain someone. Ino smiled as she walked to the bathroom, when she looked in the mirror and her smile quickly faded to a frown _'I've been wearing the same clothes since yesterday!'_ feeling dirty she decided to get in the shower. After spending an hour getting ready for the day she decided to go look for a certain blond. She ate breakfast and was thankful to Kami that her father had let her have the day off from working at the shop. She decided to walk since there was no reason to rush, thinking of all of the places she knew he would probably be at she made her way over to the ramen place and looked inside. She huffed and continued to look when she saw that he was not there, she went to the training field and looked around _'There no one here!'_ she was begining to get annoyed, she really didn't like to search for someone. Ino began to pick up the pace as she reached where his apartment was at. She went inside and asked the manager. "Excuse me sir but can you tell me which room is Naruto Uzumaki's?" she was already thinking of excuses she could use just in case he questioned her why she was looking for him.

"Just go up the second floor room 234 to your left" he replied grouchily, Ino was about to retort back when she remembered that she didn't want to have to get kicked out before she even reached the room. She went to the elevator and went to the second floor, following his order's she walked until she saw it big number's 234, she knocked lightly and got no reply _'Maybe he didn't here it'_ she knocked a bit harder and still no reply, _'maybe he's not here'_ she decided to try again this time she almost broke down the door.

Naruto shot up quickly hearing a large banging sound on his door, 'he raised an eyebrow_ 'The old man can't be that strong'_ he yawned and propped out of his bed in only boxers and a white t-shirt. He slid his feet to the door and opened up the door "Huh? Ino? what are you doing here and..." he looked at the crack in his door "why the heck are you banging on my door like that!" he shouted a little upset at her.

Ino who was annoyed before was suddenly happy again and hugged him without warning "Thanks Naruto for the gift's!" she said pressing her cheek against his chest.

Naruto didn't know what to make of the situation and decided to just hug her back "Uhh i...it was no pr...problem Ino" he stuttered on his words, his famous smiled appeared "Geez now i know what to give you when your upset at me", he felt her stiffen and look up at him.

She pulled out of his embrace and he suddenly missed the warmth of her body "Naruto I was never mad at you, what made you think that?"

He rubbed the back of his head "Well i kind of snapped at you yesterday..."

"Oh please, you were just upset because of that incident yesterday, I do that all of the time you just didn't feel like being bothered" she put her hands on her hips and smirked.

"Yeah but you were just trying to help me out..." she cut him off again.

"Naruto it isn't that big of a deal, look we're fine and happy right now so don't pity yourself over it" she looked at him up and down and giggled "Now maybe you should get dressed so we could go somewhere". Naruto blushed and let Ino come inside of his apartment, as he went In his room to put something on. Ino looked around the place a bit surprise to see how clean it looked _'not saying he's a dirty person but seeing some of his habits...'_ she snapped out of her thought when she heard footsteps coming towards her. "Wow that was fast" she studied him he wore a black shirt which had a large, orange Kohana sign on the back the back with black black jeans to match, now that she thought about it she had never seen him in an outfit other than the usual orange and blue jumpsuit he wore to go on missions. "You look good Naruto" she said smiling.

Naruto turned his head to the side so she wouldn't notice the blush "Thanks Ino, you don't look bad yourself ". Now it was her turn to blush, Naruto noticed the clothes that she wearing, her purple shortsleve shirt with blue jeans.

After the akward moment of silence Ino decided to speak "So are we going to leave or what?" she asked tapping her foot. Naruto nodded with a smile and locked his door. They began to walk and decided to take the stairs instead. While they were walking through the door both Ino and Naruto noticed the dirty look they had received from the old manager. Naruto ignored the look already used to it, but Ino had something to say "You gotta problem old man?" she questioned him.

"Ino just let it go" Naruto jumped in not wanting his day to get ruined because of this old fart.

"I suggest you listen to that damn fox girl, if you know what's best for you" the old man snorted.

"YOU STUPID MO..."Naruto quickly threw Ino over his shoulder and headed out before Ino began cursing out a storm. Naruto thought that it was safe enough to put her down.

"Why that little...just who does he think he is!" Ino fumed, still after all the times Naruto had saved them some people looked down on him because of the fox.

"It's fine Ino, I'm used to it already" he said coldly, and Ino shivered. Naruto noticed the look on her face and decided to lighten the mood "And besides we can't let some old guy ruin or day, so what are we waiting for!"

Ino was a little shocked that how he could have mood's could change so rapidly, but just shrugged it off. A small smile came upon her lips and she nodded "Alright Naruto let's go".

**And that's the end of that chapter, and don't worry I am not going to rush into their relationship, they're just being very friendly towards each other. Well I have decided to make this during the genin times so sorry to the people who wanted it during shippuden, I'm planning to make a sequel to this story during the shippuden times though so don't worry, it was what i was going to do in the first place. Well that's all I have to say, review please!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yeah I know i haven't updated in a long time, I really have no excuse other than being lazy, or being to busy playing with the new game's I just got I was really supposed to post this chapter on Christmas but it kind've slipped my mind...oops**

Naruto walked back to his apartment with a smile on his face, _'looks like I better get used to hanging out with Ino'_. He walked through the entrance not caring about the look received from the old man. He plopped down on his bed and stared down at the clock and looked outside. It was already 6:00, he already spent the whole day with the blond girl, and enjoyed every moment of it. Even though they didn't really talk in the past she seem to be comforting him alot lately which was exactly what he needed. He stripped off his clothes and proceeded to take a shower, _'Wonder what I'm going to do tomarrow'._

Ino took her time walking back to her house, thinking of the events that had happened today _'who knew hanging out with Naruto could be so fun'_ she smiled to herself, he was a bit goofy at times but he could be smart too. Her thoughts were interrupted by a rustling in the bushes _'what the?_' she swore lightly under her breath, it wasn't safe for girls to be out at this time, but she was sure she could handle who ever it was with her skill. She prepared herself for anything that would jump out at her.

Sakura popped out "Wanna challenge me right now pig?".

A vein popped out her forehead "Why are you sneaking up on me?!" she snapped, it's to bad she had to run into a small problem right after a good day.

Sakura smirked " I just wanted to know why you're spending so much time with Naruto? he seems like one of the last boys you would want to hook up with" she chuckled at the shocked look on her face.

Ino grabbed ahold of herelf "You know just because I've been hanging out with him doesn't mean I'm trying to make him mine" now it was her turn to mess with Sakura "Don't tell me your jealous?" she cocked her head to the side with a mischievous grin on her face.

The pink haired kunoichi snorted "Please as if," she cocked an eyebrow "And besides he still likes me, his feelings aren't going to change"

Ino huffed and pointed a finger at her "Don't be so sure about that, if you keep treating him like that he'll be gone just like that" she snapped her fingers and walked away giving a small wave. "You know what they say don't know what you got before you lose it" letting Sakura know that their conversation was over.

"Whatever, see you later Ino-pig" Sakura stormed off _'We'll just see about that Ino'_ .

The next day Naruto yawned and scratched the back of his head "Ahh morning already", he dragged himself out of his bed and stretched, _'Wonder what I'm gonna do today...'_ his thoughts were interrupted by his growling stomach. _'Guess i gotta eat something first'_ he quickly dressed himself in his normal orange suit and ran out through the door. As he reached the exit he heard the manager mumble something but ignored it _'probably still upset from the incident from yesterday'_ Naruto snickered and shot a glance towards the old man, and saw the hatred in his eye's. _'Like I care'_, he rushed to Ichiraku Ramen Bard burst opened the door's "Hey old man let me get three large bowls of pork ramen!".

"No problem Naruto, you seem very energetic today". _' I know that he's hyper, but not this early in the morning'_, "Ok here you go" he put down the fresh bowls of ramen and watched, not surprised how quickly he slurped down the noodles.

"Ahh thanks that hit the spot" he paid and walked out of the shop 'Perfect day to train'. He ran to the training area and set out a few clones "alright everyone let's start!". Soon all that could be heard was the sound of crashing and yelling.

Ino tied her head band around her waist and proceeded to walk out the door "Bye mom, bye dad".

"Where do you think your going young lady, you didn't forget about your punishment did you?" her father asked standing behind her tapping his foot.

Ino groaned "aww but daddy!"

"No buts! you're lucky to have had yesterday off and that's only because you're mother persuaded me" he said sternly walking out through the front door.

_'More like threatened you'_ the blond rolled her eye's and followed her father, another boring day in that stupid flower shop. _'People find their own flowers'_ she swore lightly and was thankful that her father did not hear.

"Alright Ino get to work, we're a tad late but I'm positive you'll be able to prepare the shop in time" Inochi walked outside "See you later Ino, I better not catch you slacking off" and in an instant he was gone.

She sighed and rested her head on her arm _'now what?'_,_ 'guess I better get started'._ Ino came from behind the counter and went out to the back watering the plant's sloppily. She then went back to the main room and watered all of the hanging plant trying her best not to make a mess on the floor. After she was done, Ino went back to her same bored expression and rested her head on her arm and began tapping her fingers on the counter. She looked outside seeing people crowd the streets _'everyone's having fun and I'm stuck in this stupid place!_'. Thinking about it was making her angry and she was glad when she heard the door open. "Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower shop how may I..." she paused "Tenten?". That's was a new face in the flower shop.

Tenten turned to face her with a smile on her face "Hey Ino I'm just here to get some more lily's for my mother's garden". She went out to the back and came up with arms full of the flower's. "Ok that's it".

The blond sweat dropped "uhh you want a basket or bag to put them in? don't worry it's free of charge" she collected the money and turned around to grab a basket.

"Yeah that would help a lot" Tenten chuckled a bit embarrassed. Ino watched as she walked out of the shop and slumped her shoulder's, she looked at the clock 'This is going to be a while'. Since there was nothing better to do Ino decided to watch the people of Kohana cruise the street's, she hated slow mornings.

Naruto wiped his face "alright everyone time to take a break" he called off his shadow clones and panted as he laid on the ground exhausted _'I think that's enough training for now'_ he sat up and looked at the sky _'Wow the day sure is going by slow'_. After sitting down for a few minute's Naruto called out his clones again. "Alright you guys go around the town and tell me what's been happening", all of the clone's nodded and Naruto smiled maybe today he would cause a little mischief in the town.

**I know that this wasn't one of the best chapter's and forgive me if there are a lot of mistakes but it's 2:41 which mean's that it's time for me to go to bed lol, I will try to put more effort into my chapter's I'm just tired. Well review please!**


	8. Chapter 8

Kakashi, who was ready his book looked up at the sound of stampede "hnn?". In the dust he could see at least 20 knuckle headed ninja coming his way.

"Hey Kakashi-sensi!" they all said in usion not even pausing wait for his replied.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow before sticking his nose back into the book _'I wonder why Naruto being a prankster again, I actually thought that he was out of that stage'_. He simply sighed and shrugged his shoulder's 'Another day in Kohana'.

"Alright konohamaru what's the pro..." Iruka stopped in mid sentence seeing four of the Naruto clone's standing outside of the academy. Already before anything even happened he could feel his blood beginning to boil "NO! not this again!".

Konohamaru turned his head "Oh hey look it's boss!", he smiled brightly showing his missing tooth "Why don't you come in now and show us one of your awesome moves!" he said excitedly.

"Alr..." One of the clone's began

"No! knowing one of your stunts we'll have a more than enough hassle around this town!" Iruka yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Sorry Konohamaru maybe another time, since Iruka-sensi seems to be freaking out I'm kinda busy right now anyway" one of th clone's said waving as he jogged off.

Konohamaru waved to after him " O.K. bye Naruto!".

Not to far from the academy Ino walked around the flower shop bored out of her mind, _'When will the day end?_' as she paced back and forth the door suddenly opened and the sound of snickering could be heard. "Huh?", Ino looked up front and didn't see anyone there _'Oook?_ _that was weird'_ suddenly a flash of orange appeared skidded past her. "Umm Naruto is that you?" she walked to the other side and didn't see anything 'Something weird is going on around here', she listened closely as the sound of footsteps could be heard coming closer. She crept around the row of flowers, "Gotcha'!" she yelled but when she looked the only she saw was a empty row.

"Hey Ino-chan!"

"Whaa!" Ino lost her balance and winded up face first into the floor. The Naruto clone burst out laughing at the sight before him, Ino quickly got up "Naruto you are so dead!" she punched him and a surprised look came upon her face as he turned into a puff of smoke_ 'A shadow clone?'_ her fist cleaned at her side and she stomped into the front of the shop. Soon she spotted two other clone's that were also laughing "You think it's funny huh?" she said mischievously.

"A nervous look appeared on their face and, the quickly shook their heads, Ino made her way over to them destroying one of the clone's and grabbing the other one by the collar "You listen here! I want you to go to Naruto and tell him to call off all the little pranks he has going on around the town before he has to hear it from me got it?".

"Yeah, yeah sure thing haha" the Naruto clone chuckled nervously.

"Good" Ino let him go and watched as the clone scurried back to tell the news, she chuckled and went back to the counter _'At least he livened my day a litttle'_

The cloned rushed to Naruto who was up high in a tree, "Huh? what's up with you?" he said looking down at his clone.

"I got some important news it's from Ino" the clone yelled up to him nervously, Naruto quickly called of the clone and watched as all of the scenes had replayed in his head laughing at most of the stuff that had happened he payed close attention as his clones had walked inside of the flower shop and watched the small prank they had played on Ino. Naruto began to chuckle anyone who saw him would probably thinks he was nuts, suddenly a frown appeared on his face and he decided to call of his clone's. _' Jeez she didn't have to take it so seriously'_ he rubbed his chin and paced back and forth 'But I havnt played pranks in the longest, they don't seem to be as fun as they used to be'. He sighed and looked up at the sky 'Maybe I oughta pay a visit to her to see if she's O.K.' And with that Naruto ran into the town to see the young kunoichi.

Ino looked up at the sky and smiled happily, she was finally able to get out of the shop which meant she had the rest of the day off_ 'Finally I get to relax'_. She may have thought to soon as a certain yellow blond stood infront of her _'Not this again'_ "Alright what did I tell you before!" Ino was already raising her fist.

Naruto waved his defensively "NO NO it's me for real this time!" he said with a nervous smile.

"Oh" Ino sighed and relief before getting upset again "What is wrong with you, playing tricks on me while I'm at work! my day had already sucked!".

"Sorry Ino you don't have to get so mad about it" he retorted "I won't do it again alright"

Ino suddenly felt guilty, even though it was his fault "Sorry Naruto it's just I didn't really feel like being bothered at the time" a smile crept on her face "If you want we could go out for ice cream or something, I'll treat". Ino watched as Naruto mood seemed to lighten.

"It's fine Ino-chan, I'll pay for it" He exclaimed with his cheeky smile. Ino gave him a strange look before lightly blushing_ 'Why am I blushing_?' she began walking with him still lost in her thoughts, even though she heard it before she really wasn't used to when people said her name with honorifics, especially from Naruto _'It probably just slipped out'_. It was then when she heard Naruto call her name. "Ohh yeah?" she asked confused.

"Are you O.K.? you seemed to be blanking out a lot lately" small hint of worry in his voice.

She gave him an assuring smile "I'm fine just had a lot on my mind". They began to have a small conversation, ending the day peacefully.

**Yeah and that's the end of that chapter sorry if it was a bit dry, but I can tell you right now that it's about to start getting good. I hope that this chapter made sense sorry if some parts had seemed a bit rushed. Well review please**


	9. Chapter 9

Naruto yawned and jumped out his bed quickly, it was six in the morning and he wasn't in the least bit tired, _' figures I had some really good sleep at night!_'. He quickly showered and went for the fridge _'Humph nothin as usual'_he grabbed the almost empty carton of orange juice and chugged it down. He looked at the clock again _' Aww only 6:32! I could've sworn I wasted more time than that!_' suddenly an idea popped into his head _'Maybe I'll go visit Ino later down at the shop, she could use some help in there any way'_. He chuckled as he remembered the look on her face in the morning, he decided to take his time walking to the other side of the town, there was no reason to rush. Leaving his apartment Naruto smiled to himself remembering everything that had happened yesterday evening _'Who would ever think that Ino and I would get along so well'_ he stopped to think; why wouldn't they? They we're both blond, loud and outgoing_'Maybe that's why Sakura-chan gets so upset at us'_. Naruto was lost deep in thought, now that was a name he hadn't thought about for some time now and was surprised that thinking about her didn't hurt at all, _'I don't think that I have a crush on her anymore'_. He snapped out of his thoughts when he almost crashed into the door of the small shop, he peered inside and looked at the clock. 7:12 " I didn't know that it would take me that long to walk here" he said out loud, he pouted "Isn't she suppose to be here by now?".

"Who are you talking about Naruto?"

"Gahh!" Naruto jumped and turned around, looking up at the tall blond man "You should scare people like that !", he said catching his breath.

"Sorry about that Naruto, but you should be aware of your surroundings" he paused letting the blond boy finish recovering "Now who are you talking about?" he asked again.

Naruto sighed and smiled "Ino-chan, I thought that this was the time that she was suppose to be working?"

Inoichi raised an eyebrow "She doesn't work on Saturday's, and now that her punishment is over she only work's on Monday through Wednesday." He said rubbing his chin, his face became serious "Is there something you need from my daughter?" his fatherly instincts came in.

Naruto scratched his head nervously "No no nothing at all, I was just going to offer her some help in the shop is all" he chuckled nervously, he shifted uncomfortably under the heavy gaze of Inoichi.

Inoichi suddenly smiled brightly "Oh then why didn't you just say so in the first place? I'm sure she will really appreciate your help"

Naruto sweat dropped _' That was close'_, "Uh, I really should get going now bye Mr. Yamanaka!".

He quickly ran down the block quickly out of the blond man's sight and made of dash for a certain household, he looked around checking to see if the coast was clear before jumping near the window and peering inside, he knocked on the window only to have the sleeping female groan and turn her back towards him, he tapped on the glass a bit harder. When he got no response he used a jetsu that he had leared from when he was with Jiraya _'Guess that's one of the only handy things that comes out of Ero-san being a pervert'_. He lifted the window and quietly crept inside. Trying not to wake her up, he sat on her bed right beside her careful not to shake her bed to much before poking her on her shoulder "Ino wake up" he whispered, she turned over again on her side facing him. _'Man what's with this girl'_he poked her again and still no response, his eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He put a finger on her forehead before pushing hard "INO!" he whispered harshly.

Ino sprangs up only to be greeted by a fellow blond "What the?", as a reaction she accidently kicked him off of the bed making him land with a loud thump

"Owww" he said slowly sitting up, "What was that for?"

"For being in my room that's what it's for, what are you doing here?" She said leaning over the side of her bed.

Just then a voice could be heard from the floor below "Ino is everything alright?".

Ino became nervous and hurriedly jumped off of her bed "Naruto get out of here now!".

"Why what's the big deal anyway" He asked rubbing his head

"Naruto!" she grabbed him from his shoulders only so he could turn around making them both fall down.

"Ouch" Ino hissed as her back collided with the floor only to have Naruto's extra weight pushing against her chest.

Naruto quickly stood up apologizing "Sorry Ino it was an accident..." he was shut up when Ino had put a hand to his mouth, the sound of footsteps could be heard coming closer.

" Quick! Naruto go somewhere?" she whispered frantically

"Where?!" Naruto looked at the door hearing the person right outside the door

"Ino are you sure everything is alright?" Ms. Yamanaka asked again.

Ino quickly shoved Naruto under her bed "Uh yeah mom everything is fine!" she chuckled nervously

Ino's mother opened the door and looked inside "You might want to try cleaning this place up some hun, it's a mess" She paused and listened for a second as she could here the busy streets of Kohana "Why is the window open?".

The blond girl had to hurry and think of an excuse "Because I needed some fresh air, it's so stuffy in this room" she yawned and pretended to be sleepy "Alright mom I think I going to sleep for a little longer" she said getting into bed.

"Alright whatever you say Ino" she began to close the door when she stopped and turned around with a knowing smile "I was your age before to you know, now where is he?". Ino gulped and tried to think of an excuse.

"Uhh...I don't know what you're talking about, maybe you had to much coffee of something" She suggested with a wavering voice. Naruto was sweating bullets _'Oh damn, how do I get myself out of this one'_ he stayed quiet as possible hoping her mom would just take it and leave.

smirked before leaving the room "O.K. Ino I let you go, to tell you the truth I really don't mind. It's your father you have to watch out for" and with that said she closed the door. Hearing the retreating footsteps Naruto crawled from under the bed.

"Whoa that was a close one" he said sitting on her bed "Hey are you O.K.?".

Ino tried not to smile and stay upset at him for what he had done "Am I O.K.? you nearly got me in some deep crap and you ask me if I'm O.K.?"

Naruto frowned "Ya know you don't have to get an attitude about it, you're fine now so what's the big deal?" he raised his voice becoming upset

Ino turned around with a smirk "Who said I was getting an attitude, you've actually made my morning interesting " she said hopping on the bed next to him. "Now why was the reason you came here in the first place?"

Naruto nearly fell off again after thowing her weight on the bed like that "I really came to ask you if you needed any help in the shop but your father told me you didn't work today, so now I'm here and was wondering what you wanna do today?" he asked pleadingly.

"I guess we can go somewhere to eat but please let me get a chance to get ready and meet me at the shop in one hour" she said satisfied

"Aww one hour!, that's to long Ino-chan!" he said whining like a little kid

"Welll it's worth the wait" and with that said he left her house as she prepared for another day worth the trouble.

**And that's the end to that chapter, I think that I am satisfied with this for now, well I hoped you enjoyed review please.**


	10. Chapter 10

Naruto waited impatiently, tapping his foot with a pout on his face _'Man this is taking forever'_ he paced back and forth until he felt a familiar presents. "It's about time you showed up I've been waiting here forever" he whined irritated.

Ino took a deep breath "Well no one told you to wait here for the whole time you've could have just went home or something ya know" she said a bit annoyed with his greeting.

Naruto smiled cheekily "Well what are we waiting for? let's go!" it was if he had just realized the reason she was there, he began to walk off when he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. He turned around to see the blond girl with her hands on her hips "Huh Ino? why are you just standing there?".

She sighed "Now Naruto we didn't even plan on where we we're going, where were YOU gonna walk off too?".

He rubbed the top of his head and huffed_ 'she does have a point',_ "O.k. Ino where do you suppose we go then? I'll let you decide.", he stomped his foot impatiently.

Ino took a minute to think "How bout we just go for a walk and then we'll decide where to go okay?".

Naruto seemed satisfied with her answer " Sure thing Ino-Chan". The two blonds walked off unaware of watching eyes.

_'So that's why I haven't heard from her'_ Shikamaru smirked, _' looks like it's Ino's turn to have to have a troublesome time'_. He watched as the two blonds walk away laughing and chatting. _'Looks like Naruto found some one who can be there for him, way to go Naruto'_.

'Did you think of a place you think that we could go Naruto" Ino asked still looking ahead.

"I was thinking that maybe would could go to the salad bar, that is you favourite place to eat right?"

Ino stopped in her tracks, did Naruto Uzumaki? the one who could stand the taste of vegetables just suggest that they go to the salad bar? "But Naruto, you don't even like to eat salad's and that's all they have..."

"Ahh it's no biggie" he said waving his hand, he then gave her a huge smile "But if you want, the ramen shop is always a suggestion" he said chuckling.

"No thanks I think I'll have to pass on the ramen today, maybe another time O.K.?" She said smirking while watching his reaction.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders " Oh well it was worth a try". The continued to walk taking their time reaching the other side of town.

"Finally we're here" Ino said pushing through the door._ 'To think I've wasted all this time just to get salad'_ Naruto thought as he walked in right after her. The hunger pain was really starting to get to him, but he decided to push it aside. He took a seat in one of the stools and waited and watched as Ino told the waitress her order, when she was done she sat in the stool right beside him. "Are you sure you don't want anything Naruto it isn't really that bad". The waitress soon came out with Ino's order.

He shook his head furiously " I'm positive, I don't like that stuff ta...". He could not finish his sentence fore Ino had shoved a bunch of leaves into his mouth.

"See I even drowned it in dressing for you".

Naruto swallowd the whole thing without chewing "you coulda warned me first ya know!" he said gulping down water.

"Well you wouldn't have tried it so I had to do something" she said munching on her salad. "So did you like it or what?"

Naruto took a moment to think, "It was alright" he replied turning his head the other way.

_'What a liar, he likes it more than he will admit'_. Ino and Naruto continued to have a small conversation until she was finish eating. " Alright Naruto come up with me to pay".

Ino began taking her money out "That will be $5.50 please" the cashier had asked.

Ino groaned trying to look for exact change "Oops" she watched as the change hit the floor, she began to bend down to pick it up.

"I got it!" Naruto exclaimed happily as reached down to pick it up; his hand met soft flesh.

Ino gasped and looked down at her hand, she then looked up, her face was only mer inches away from the other blond. Her sky eyes met with his ocean blue one's and neither looked away. "N..Naruto" her eyes widen as he moved in closer, she licked her lips, her lips parted slightly.

Naruto did the same and acted on instinct '_Ino'_ was his only thought his heart rate began to speed up, and then; "Are you going to pay young lady?". The two young teens jumped apart blushing furiously as they were brought back to reality.

"Uhh huh? oh yeah sure" Ino put the money on the counter and waved bye to Naruto "I think I'm going to stay home for the rest of the day, I'll see you around Naruto!" she yelled running out the door. Naruto stood there looking at where the Ino had just left. _'I hope I didn't do something wrong'_. He slowly walked out the door deep in his thoughts.

Ino walked into her house and didn't even pay attention to when her mother was talking to her, she was still thinking of the event that had just happened few minutes ago. So much was running through her head, she needed a rest, it was all to much to comprehend right now.

**And this chapter is over, it wasn't the best but it is getting somewhere! sorry about the long wait I've been really slacking off when it comes to a lot of things, well review please! I hope you enjoyed.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Forgive me for not posting the new chap in such a long time I've just had a lot of things on my schedule, well enjoy(=**

Naruto looked outside as he was lost deep in his thoughts about what had happened between him and Ino. _'Things are probably going to change between us now'_ he sighed and lightly tapped his head on the window seal _'Why do I always have to do some stupid'_he was becoming angry at himself, she had helped him get rid of the pain that Sakura caused and little did he know after spending so much time with the beautiful blond he was beginning to have feelings for her, she was becoming the closes person to him. he exhaled loudly and slipped into his bed staring up at the ceiling preparing for a restless night he prayed he wouldn't lose another person close to him.

_'What am I going to do'_Ino thought as she laid spread, staring at the ceiling _'Things are definitely going to be different_' she was confused, yeah she used to have a crush on Sasuke but those feelings didn't compare to the ones she was feeling now. She didn't realize that after spending time with a person who made her laugh and happy every time she needed it, she was bound to start feeling some sort of connection with him, a connection that was more than what just ordinary friends would have, it was something closer. _'Don't tell me I...no that can't be right'_Ino shut her eyes tightly and opened them again ' What am I gonna say to him? we can't just go on like nothing happened'. She decided to let go off the subject for now, tried to get some rest.

Naruto yawned and slowly got out of bed, he stretched and yawned making his way over to the bathroom, he took his time cleaning himself up before looking in the mirror, he looked at the reflection in the mirror seeing the dark circles under his eyes, he splashed water on his face and shook his head. Naruto looked at the clock, seeing that it was still pretty early he didn't have to leave his apartment right this instant. He looked out of his window and looked at the sun continue to rise slowly before looking looking over the part of town he was able to see. The streets seemed barren and empty during this time of day, he chuckled knowing that in a half an hour it would be flooded with citizens. _'I wonder what I'm going to do today'_he tried his hardest not to think about 'her' but it didn't work, he was nervous about seeing Ino again. _'But I'm going to have to one day or another, and besides there hasn't been a day that passed these past weeks where I wasn't wit Ino, today shouldn't be any different_'. Naruto seemed a bit more confident and decided to leave the apartment, there was work to be done.

Ino sat up slowly, her eyes barley opened. She hated waking up to early, but for some reason she couldn't go back to sleep. She got up out of her bed and proceeded over to the bathroom. She decided to take her time getting ready for the day, for some reason she really didn't feel like going out today. _'I wonder what Naruto is doing'_ she sighed and turned on the water preparing for a relaxing, much needed bath.

Naruto ran swiftly through the town making his way over to an all to familiar shop in the town. He ran inside hearing the small bell to signal the door opening,_ 'Wow I'm surprised it's opened so early'_. He slowly looked around before his eyes settled on the tall blond man behind the counter, looking stern as ever. He suppressed a chuckle_ 'Mr. Yamanaka is nothing like his daughter in the morning'_. He smiled brightly "Hi !" Naruto exclaimed as he walked over to the counter.

Inoichi gave a bright back "Ahh! hi to you too Naruto, what brings you here so early in the morning?".

Naruto took a moment for to think of an answer " Well I guess I have to get something special for a special somebody" he said walking around

Inoichi raised an eyebrow with a knowing smile " Oh? and who may that special somebody be?". He tapped his fingers lightly on the counter.

"Uhh I'm sorry but I can't tell you that" Naruto hurriedly walked into one of the isles to escape the hard stare from Inoici. He was surprised seeing all of the flowers that seemed reasonable, but he found the perfect one.

He ran to the counter with a single beautiful flower in his hand, "O.K.! that's all I needed" he said placing it on the counter gently, careful not to mess anything up.

Inoichi gave a suspicious look, before a small smile came across the face "Here you go", he said handing it back to Naruto. "You shouldn't have to pay, especially since it's for a certain person that comes from my family" his grin then turned into a wide smile "You're a good kid Naruto".

Naruto blushed lightly and left the store and proceeded to the Yamanaka house hold, he was not aware of a certain pink haired kunichi walking behind him.

"So who's the flower for Naruto?" Sakura suddenly asked, making Naruto jump,"Because if it's for me you can already forget it" she said crossing her arms.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked at the flower in his hand "Huh? Oh this isn't for you Sakura-Chan, it's for someone special" he said with pride.

Sakura now looked both interested and upset _'So what is he trying to say about me? I'm not important or anything'_, "Oh, so who's it for then?" she asked, hiding her anger.

"Um, I can't tell you Sakura-Chan, well if you don't mind I really gotta get a move on" he took off in a light jog "See ya some other time!" he yelled waving behind him. Sakura watched with a puzzled look on her face as Naruto ran off._ ' I wonder who it's for, it couldn't be for...no that could never happen'_, she began to chuckle at the thought. Two of the loudest blonds getting together? She didn't think so _'I think I'll have a talk with Ino later'_.

Naruto finally reached Ino's house and was already near her window. He peered inside, glad that the the female blond didn't spot him yet. She seemed to be deep in tapped on the glass lightly.

Ino quickly looked over to the window _'Huh? what the'_. "Naruto?" Ino walked over to her window and opened it up "Yeah what is it?" she tried to sound as normal as possible.

Naruto came inside and focused his eyes on the bear laying on her bed " Uhh Ino, I came to talk about what happened yesterday".

Her held back a small gasp and took a deep breath "Uhh...".

"I dont want things to change between us Ino" he cut her off "but I realized that; after spending so much time with you, and you helped me small part of misery that" Naruto hesitated for a moment and was now focused on Ino. "that I think I'm starting to like you...more than a friend." , He inhaled and held his breath hoping that she would not react like his old crush.

"Naruto I..." Ino was lost for words at the sudden confession.

Naruto slowly reached into his pocket pulling out the a beautiful red carnation "Here, it's to show that I'm serious about this", he said sincerely.

Ino took it from his hand "Naruto, you didn't have to prove it by giving me this flower too." she took a few steps closer to him "I already believe you" she whispered embracing him tightly, Naruto hugged her back knowing for the first time, it was a good choice admitting his feelings for a girl that was special to him.

**And here is the 11 chapter, for some odd reason it took me longer than it usually does to complete it but I think that it was really good that I made Naruto take that step. And sry if some parts may seem over dramatic but that,s can happen to a person who deeply cares for someone else. Things should start to be really good now, but the problem with that is...I now I have to think of new ideas for the chapter's since I did not plan to make it this far, so please if you would tell me some of the ideas that you think should happen it would be really appriciated. Also I will be having slow updates due to personal business...sry )=**


	12. author's note

Unfortunately I will not be updating **To Think That it All Started, Because of a Bouquet** for now. It will be on a short hold due to personal business, but I promise to update as soon as I can. I will say in about a month, before I can start having updates again. Sry )=


	13. Chapter 13

Ino walked down the street a dreamy look on her face, she seemed to be in a different world, _'Who would of known that I would feel this way about Kohana's number one knuckle headed ninja'_. She chuckled at the thought. She was brought back to reality when she felt somebody poking her shoulder.

"What the..." she turned around greeted by the sight of a girl with pink hair. "Oh hey Sakura"

Sakura was taken a back for a second, she didn't get the reaction she expected but didn't show it. "Uh, Ino can we talk for a sec" she asked with a serious expression.

Ino raised an eyebrow "Sure, what do you want to talk about?" she asked questionably.

Sakura shook her head "Not out here, lets go some other place that's a bit more private" she smiled, and began to walk forward, signaling Ino to follow. As the young blond kunoichi stared at Sakura she could tell she was tense _'I wonder what's up with her'_Ino thought struggling to keep up with Sakura without having to jog. Sakura walked into the park sitting down in a quiet part of the park where there would be no disturbance. The two stared at each other for a moment an awkward silence between them.

Finally after a minute Ino decided to speak "So what's so important that you have to tell me?" she asked becoming slightly annoyed.

"Well I just wanted to know what's going on between you and Naruto" Sakura said jumping straight to the point.

Ino tried her best to stop a smirk from coming on her face _'I knew it'_, "Nothing much, just really good friends" she answered looking Sakura "Really good friends".

Sakura caught her drift "Ino-you and Naruto aren't dating are you?" her voice rising.

Ino sighed slightly disappointed "No, I guess not", _'hopefully though'_. She raised an eyebrow "Why'd you ask?"

"Oh, no reason, it's just that you seem to be spending more and more time with him and he seems to be...how can I say this-"

"Enjoying the time he spends with me" she said with a smirk she could no longer hold back. She watched as Sakura's lips tightened "You wouldn't be happening to get upset now Sakura?"

"Why would I be getting upset for! It's not like he likes you or anything, just using you to get over his pain from when I rejected him, he be back before you know it!" the pink haired girl shouted.

Ino felt a small twinge of anger and hurt at Sakura words, even though she knew they weren't true _'At least I hope they're not'._"Oh, why don't you just shut up forehead! you don't know what you talking about! you think just because he had this crush on you for so long that it's never going to change, but as far as I can tell he has already found someone who doesn't treat him like crap all the time, and he's already starting to warm up to mm-- her already!". Ino yelled defensively, she rubbed her temples to keep herself under control "Look Sakura can't we just have a good time without having to argue?"

Sakura waved her off and began to walk away "Yeah I would like to have that to but it obvious your feelings are getting in the way, I'll see you some other time".

Ino jaw clenched, _'I can't believe this! that little-why do I let myself get so worked up over this it's not worth my time'_. Ino decided not to let this incident ruin her day; there were more important things to take care of.

Naruto walked onto the training field and began to stretch, for some reason he seemed very energized today. _'Wow I haven't trained in a while, guess I had a lot of things to take care of'_. He began to focus his chakra when suddenly he couldn't move his body. "What the-"

"Hey Naruto long time no see"

His eye twitched hearing the lack of interest in a all to familiar voice. "Yea, what's up Shikamaru" Naruto said smiling.

He released his jutsu. "Nothing much, just came to talk to you about someone", he responded digging his hands in his pockets.

Naruto turned around and brushed himself off, "Well, who's it about?" giving Shikamaru a confused look.

_'He really is clueless'_, "So what's up with you and Ino, you two seem to be spending a lot of time with each other" his expression never changing.

Naruto blushed slightly "Well, I guess nothing really; just good friends I guess", he answered turned around and began practicing again so Shikamaru couldn't see his face.

Shikamaru smirked, deciding to mess with him while he had the chance "Are you sure about that? you guys seem to be all over each other latley, hopefully your relationship won't turn out troublesome".

Naruto began doing push ups face down trying desperately not to show his face, suddenly an idea popped into his head "Yeah maybe it'll turn out like you and Temari's, you guys seem to have a really good relationship" he said chuckling

This time it was Shikamaru's time to blush "We're not together, we just partners when it comes to certain missions other than that she is just a troublesome woman".

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say" after getting warmed up he walked over to Shikamaru "Well since your here I hope your up for some training, it's been a long time since the last time I spared with you". He said excitedly.

The lazy ninja sighed _'What a drag'_.

**And that's the end to chapter 12, yeah really wasn't one of my best but gotta put certain stuff in; this chapter wasn't meant for anyone to get upset at Sakura, she's just playing an important part. Well anyway I hoped you enjoyed, and send your reviews! (=**


	14. Chapter 14

Naruto woke up and yawned _'Ahh morning already?'_he slowly began to rise but was stopped when he felt a soreness in his back, he groaned in frustration _'Oi! that's the last time I under estimate that lazy ninja!_' he slowly made his way to the fridge and opened the inside. _'Let me remind myself to go grocery shopping later'_. He reluctantly pulled the milk out the fridge, this time checking the expiration date. "Thank God I didn't drink this, it's already a week old". He poured the curdled milk into the sink while holding his nose and threw away the carton. After having any breakfast, Naruto freshened himself up and headed to the store.

Ino stared up at the ceiling wide awake, which was surprising seeing that she wasn't a morning person. She jumped out of her bed feeling refreshed and walked straight towards the bathroom; only for the door to be locked _'Huh?'_ she knocked on the door.

"Ino, I suggest you don't do that you know how your mother can be in the morning".

"Ahh!, Dad?" she looked at him confusion on her face "Aren't you suppose to be downstairs in the kitchen?", she knew she sounded dumb but rarley did she see her father in the morning.

"Well hello to you too Hun" he raised an eyebrow "You're up pretty early Ino! that eager to go to work I see" he said chuckling.

Ino sweat dropped _'It's Monday already?',_ "Uh no not really dad" she sighed still waiting for her mother to get out of the bathroom.

"Oh?so why else would you be up so early is something wrong with my daughter?!" he joked, he watched as an annoyed expression appeared on his daughter's face.

Ino was just about to respond when she heard the bathroom door open, "Ok dear you can go in now. Ino? what a surprise you're up early" she said walking past her daughter.

The blond girl eyebrow twitched _'Is it really that surprising to see me in this early in the morning'_, she stormed past her father and into the bathroom.

"Hey Ino! (SLAM!)" he sighed defeated _'She'll be just like her mother when she grows up'._

_______ ________________________________

Ino walked towards the shop enjoying the cool clean air _'Another boring day at work on a nice day, this sucks!'_she unlocked the shop and was about to walk inside when she heard footsteps approaching 'Who would be up this early?' she turned around already knowing who it was once she saw the wild blond hair "Naruto?"

Naruto turned around hearing an all to familiar voice "Ino? I see you're back at work" He paused to look at the clock at one of the closed shops "And you're early that's a surprise" he exclaimed giving a toothy grin.

She felt the vein pulse in her forehead but ignored his comment "So where are you going this early Naruto?" she asked.

"I have to come pick up some things at the store, I'm running low on suplies" he answered.

Ino raised an eyebrow, "Oh, well I wouldn't want to keep you from getting what you need done so..."

"No! it's fine, really" he explained putting his hands behind his head, "Actually I was wondering if I can stop by later...ya know just incase you need help or something".

A smirk appeared on her face "You know if you wanted to spend time with me Naruto you could have just asked" she chuckled seeing the blush appear on his face.

He turned his head the other way so she couldn't see his face "Well I gotta get going now, see you later Ino!" he waved back as he took off in a light jog to the grocery store. Ino simply shrugged her shoulders and walked back inside of the shop. She proceeded to taking care of the plants.

_____ ___________________________

Naruto carried his heavy bags back to the apartment _'Man that's a lot of money spent! I need another mission'_ after a hour spending money on groceries he was pretty beat. _'I still need to stop by to see Ino'_, he ran inside his apartment and hurriedly put everything where it needed to be, and made his way back to the shop.

Ino looked up hearing the door open "Wow that was pretty fast Naruto".

"Yea well, you know me I don't waste anytime" he looked a the blond kuniochi seeing her watering some of the plants. "Hey Ino is there anything you want me to do to help you out?" he asked.

Ino looked up and thought for a minute "Yea can you water all the plants out in back and TRY not to make a water mess ok?".

"Yes ma'am" he said sarcastically and began to chuckle after seeing the expression on her face. _'So let's see'_he grabbed the hose and proceeded to watering all of the shrubs and plants. _'This is pretty easy I don't know why she thought I would make a mess'_. Naruto began to turn around when his foot got caught in the loop of the hose _'Oh dammit!'_ he tried to pull his foot out only to fall over face first the water spewing all over the ground. He got up slowly seeing the water still coming out the hose he quickly shut it off and looked around 'She's going to kill me!' water was all over the place.

Ino ran out back hearing all the ruckus "Naruto are you oo..NARUTO!!" her anger building up inside "I thought I told you not to make a mess!" she said walking over to him.

Naruto backed away in fear, knowing a woman's rage "It was an accident! honestly Ino-Chan!".

She grabbed him by the collar of his black shirt under his jacket and took a deep breath "It's not even that big of a deal, thank God it's only towards the back" she released him and sighed "Oh, Naruto what am I going to do with you?" she began giggling, causing him to smile. "How about we go back inside now that everything is done back here." she suggested helping him to his feet.

"Sure Ino-Chan" he followed her back inside where she sat behind the counter waiting for customers. The two began to have a nice conversation when the bells jingled.

"Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop...Kiba?" Ino questioned surprised _'I thought he hated flowers'_.

Kiba turned around "What's up Ino, and Uzumaki?" he seemed shocked.

"Hey dog boy! long time no see" Naruto jumped in.

A smirk appeared on Kiba's face "You still haven't changed" he decided to change the subject "So what are you guys now, boyfriend and girlfriend? there's been rumors going around about you two ya know".

Ino quickly responded her face bright red "No we're not, just friends". Naruto slowly shook his head agreeing with her.

"Whatever you say, hey do you sell Agrimony herbs around here or just the flower?" he asked rubbing the back of his head.

"Yea look out back where all the rest of the wild flowers are" she told him. They waited till he got back and paid for the herbs.

"Thanks, catch you guys later" he waved at them Akumaru waiting right outside the door.

"Wow I didn't even see Akumaru there" Ino said looking at the puppy, she looked over at Naruto who seemed to be deep in thought "Hey is everything Ok?". She asked concerned.

"Just thinking of something" he responded, his happy attitude came right back. "Hey Ino do you want to go some place for lunch my treat".

"Sure! as long as my father allows it" She groaned wondering what her father would say. She watched as the blond haired boy walked towards the back of the rows of flowers. "Naruto what are you doing?" she asked.

"That plant at the top doesn't go with the rest of them, it kind of makes the row look sloppy" he retorted still observing the large hanging plant.

Ino looked over and had to agree with him it didn't go right with all the others "Move it another row or something, I can't have this shop looking the least bit sloppy".

Naruto tried to lift it only to have it almost fall on the floor "You wanna help Ino? It's kind of hard balancing this huge plant".

She sighed "Yeah I'm coming right now", Ino walked over and put her hands underneath the bottom of the plant "Now see if you can grab the top of the pot".

Naruto stretched his limbs as far as they can go _'Almost got it'_he was able to touch the top of the rim when his foot accidentally bumped into Ino's sending him sprawling to the side "Gahh!"

"Ah! Naruto watch...oww!" she opened her eyes only to see the goofy blond sprawled out on top of her on the floor, there face mere inches away. Ino felt the heat rushing to her face "Uhh".Naruto was about to get up when the door opened.

"Ino where are you hun I was going to...WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!" Inoichi shouted at the top of his lungs.

Naruto quickly got up "I...It's not what it look like!" he scurried to the opposite side of the room

"Don't lie! did you forget about the clan's jutsu!" Inoichi was furious "Ino get up! I'm closing the shop early today, you have some explaining to do" he looked over at Naruto "And you I will speak to you later, out of the shop!". Naruto quickly left and decided he would explain to Inoichi after he calmed down.

Ino still didn't respond due to the how quickly everything happened "Let's go Ino".

_'I'm never going to hear the end of this'_

**And that's the end of that chapter, (O.o) what's going to happen in the next?. Misunderstandings can sometimes can really suck, especially for these two characters, guess they have to call that little lunch date off. I hoped you enjoyed and now review please.**


	15. Chapter 15

Ino just sat there on the living room couch as she continued to hear her father's rage. Her mother trying to calm him down enough so Ino could say her side of the story.

"I thought I raised you better Ino" Inoichi started but he heard his wife cleared her throat rather loud "Umm, we raised you better I trusted you enough to be with the boy Ino the least you could have done was try to be in a place where you wouldn't get caught. In my day's we wouldn't be doing things that were this risky".

"Dad can you let me explain..."

"No! don't you dare interrupt me before I make your punishment even worse" he snapped.

"Hun, at least give her a chance" Ino's mother stepped in, he husband was about to respond when she gave him the look. She looked back at her daughter "Now go on and explain yourself Ino about what happened".

Ino took a deep breath "Well you're probably not going to believe this but...Naruto was helping me out with opening the shop and everything, then we had a customer come in afterwards, well after being so bored I guess he started to look around and saw a plant that was out of place in the first isle and I told him to move it to a different spot but because the plant was so big he almost dropped it on the floor, so I was going to help him out when he somehow tripped and...well that when you saw us in the store. It was all a big misunderstanding honestly!" she pleaded her parents not wanting to deal with this anymore. She saw the look on their faces.

"Well I..." Inoichi was cut off by his wife

"Believe you" she stated

"Nani?" both daughter and father said in union. Ino sighed in relief.

"How can you go for such a rediculous story like that?" he asked his wife.

"Honey if you can't tell by the seriousness and honesty in her tone and face then you're age must really be catching up to you" her tone getting louder, she was beginning to become irritated with her husband's wrath. "Now go to that boy's apartment right now, you owe him an apology and you should have a talk with him".

"A talk?" he asked confused.

"Yes" she responded "The talk"

"Ohh" he said getting her point. "Yes dear". And with with that said he left to go find the young blond teen.

After her father left Ino looked back at her mother "What was that all about Mom?" she asked.

"Don't worry you going to find out soon because I also have to have the talk with you" the older blond said.

"The talk? What are you talking about?"

sighed and tried to approach this slowly "Well Ino...boy's are starting to become more involved in your life and I'm not talking about how they were in the past. You're probably getting these new feelings that are strange and you've never felt before".

_'Oh my God'._

_______ ____________________

Inoichi appeared in front of Naruto's apartment complex and asked the manager for the right room. Trying to hold his tongue from the rudeness of the old man.

He knocked on the door "Hey Naruto it's me Ino's father and I would like to have a talk with you". He said calmly feeling a bit embarrassed on the way he acted earlier.

Naruto creaked open the door a bit with a mouth full of ramen noodles,"Mmm" he held his finger up to signal him to wait a minute as he swallowed the noodles and gave a quick glance over his apartment, 'Thank goodness I decided to clean up today'. "Uh...h-hey Mr. Yamanaka, come in please" his voice shakey a worried expression on his face 'I hope Ino was able to explain it'.

He took a seat at Naruto's small dining table that was only enough for two people, "Naruto I came to talk about what happened earlier" he watched as Naruto's eyes opened. "Come sit down" he pointed at the chair across the other side of the table.

Naruto quickly made his way and sat down starring straight into the man's eye's, trying to think of what to say about the incident earlier. "I can explain about what happened earlier..."

"No need" he cut him off "I came to apologize about what I saw i greatly misunderstood and there was no need for me to yell and shout as I did". _'Even though I still not sure that I believe that story'._There was an awkward silence between the two before Naruto finally spoke.

"Mr. Yamanaka, even though you probably won't believe me you don't have to worry about me doing things like that with Ino. I care about her to much." he said sincerely. He didn't wan't Inoichi to not trust him.

Inoichi rubbed his chin before smiling "I think I could trust you with her Naruto". His eye's became serious once again "Naruto I have to talk to you about something".

Naruto looked confused 'Did I do something else?'. "Yes sir?"

"Well you at a time of age where you might start to see girls a bit differently then you did a few years ago and...".

Naruto resisted the urge to slap his forehead _'Oh here we go'_.

**And that's the end of that chapter, not the most interesting but it'll do. everyone hates having the talk with their parents it can be quite embarrassing but it should be done. Oh, and when Naruto says he won't do like that to Ino that does NOT go for kissing...well I hope you enjoyed review please!!!!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry guys for not updating so long...I guess I have no excuse except that I was lazy, but I'll make it up to you (= and by the way there is a reason this chapter is so short I'll be sure to update as soon as I can**

Naruto woke up early and yawned, _'Oh what a crazy day yesterday'_. He thought of all the events that took place _'And a new education too'_. He blushed at some of the new things he learned about females. He shook his head to clear his mind and slowly got up to go in the shower. He looked inside of the cabinets "Thank goodness I went grocery shopping". Finally Naruto was glad that he wake up in the morning without having to leave the apartment hungry. He pulled out two instant noodle cups, a smile appeared on his face _'Something tells me this is going to be a really good day'._

Ino groaned and slugged herself out of bed _'I didn't get any sleep at all last night'_. She looked out side able to see the top of the flower shop from her house _'I definitely do not want to be bothered with work today'_ she was about to get back into her warm bed when the sound of her father talking reached her ears _'Looks like I have no other choice'._She slowly dragged her feet till she reached the bathroom and got herself ready. As soon as Ino stepped stepped outside of the bathroom she bumped into her fathers chest "What the...Daddy?".

He smiled down at her "Ino about yesterday...I came to apologize, and because of my misunderstanding and letting my rage get the best of me, You don't have to run the shop today-" he was cut short by his daugter's outburst.

"Yes! thank you so much Daddy" she gave him a big hug before running into her room changing back into her pajamas and getting a few more hours of sleep.

Naruto hopped from house to house racing to the flower shop, _'This time I'll try not to be so clumsy, or I probably won't be so lucky'_. He landed in front of the shop and peered inside. He grumbled seeing that it was empty, _'I am a few minutes early'_ he sat down patiently near the entrance of the shop_ 'Few more minutes'_. He began to tap his fingers impatiently, not even knowing why he was so eager for the shop to open. Suddenly the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard coming closer. "Hey Ino-Chan I..." Naruto sweat dropped and rubbed the back of his head "Oh sorry Mr. Yamanaka I thought--isn't it Ino's day to work?" he asked confused.

"Oh Naruto, early as usual I see; and because of the misunderstanding I let Ino have the day off" he watched as a bright smile appeared on Naruto's face.

"Really?" he smile getting bigger "Thanks Mr. Yamanaka!" he said jogging towards the older man's house. It wasn't that he didn't like working at the shop it was just...it could get a bit boring at times _'And now Ino-Chan won't be so cranky since she doesn't have to work'._ He jumped up near her window seal and peered inside. Once again there was the young blond beauty sleeping so peacefully. _'Oi not this again'_Naruto groaned, he knew taht it was no point in knocking on her window so used his jutsu instead to unlock the window and creep inside. He sat on thed edge of her bed poking her side. "Hey Ino-Chan".

She groaned and sat up _'What is it now'._She wipped her eyes and squinted "Hmm? Naruto?" her eyes widened "What are you doing here-AGAIN!" she whispered harshly. "And you woke me from my sleep" she whined.

Naruto raised an eyebrow "Well that's a nice way to greet people", he watched as she got ready to say something back before speaking again "So what are we going to do today Ino-Chan?" he asked excitedly.

Ino looked at the clock _'It's only 8:30 and he still has so much energy'_. "Well I don't know Naruto, why don't you tell me since you woke me up" she said a little to happily.

He folded his arms against his chest and scratched the back of his head "You know I don't think it's work that makes you so cranky, you're just not a morning person". He shrugged.

"Hey! I'm not always like this! it's just I didn't get much sleep last night is all" she said defensively. "Ok Naruto look just let me have about an extra hour of sleep and we'll go some plack ok?" she suggested.

Naruto rubbed his chin "Ok, sure Ino".

Ino sighed in relief "Yes, now can you leave my room I need my beauty sleep" she teased lightly.

Instead 0f doing what she asked the blond boy sat in a chair close to her bed "Na, I think I'll just wait in here until you wake up!" he said happily.

The young blond kunoichi raised an eyebrow "You can't be serious". She saw the look on Naruto face that read 'does it look I'm joking?'. She huffed and faced the other way seeing that there was no point in trying to persuade him out. _'Whatever as long as he doesn't disturb me..._' she tossed the other way feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Are you just going to stare at me the whole time?" she scowled at him.

Naruto quickly turned his head the other way "No, I just waiting for you to hurry up and get rested" quickly thought of something "I won't look at you alright? sheesh". _'Even though you're one of the most beautiful sights I ever seen'_. He watched as the Ino closed her eyes and turned the other way again. He sat there for about a minute before deciding that he was officially bored. _'Man this sucks'_he began to lightly tap his fingers against his leg and studying the whole room to take up some of the time. After about five minutes he could here Ino's steady breathing signaling that she was sleep. Naruto yawned starting to feel tired himself _'Man maybe I should have headed back home to get some sleep myself'_. He stared at her bed for a moment _'It is big enough to fit two people'_ He shook his head to clear his mind _'What was I thinking Ino would kill me if I woke up beside her'_. He sat up from his chair and walked over to the edge of the bed, debating with himself 'He kicked of his sandals and sat on the bed _'I'll just wake up before she does and she'll never know'._He laid down beside her and closed his eyes, not conscience that he was pulling a certain blond kunoichi against him.

**And that is the end of the chapter, let's see how Ino will react when she wakes up in the arms of the knuckled headed ninja. Review please**!


	17. Chapter 17

**Here is the next chapter sorry I took so long, but I'm sure all of you will like this one...or at least I hope. Enjoy!**

Ino woke up feeling refreshed_ ' That's all I needed '_ she also felt a warmth coming from behind her and snuggled into it _'What is this anyway?'_ she opened her eyes and looked down and saw a pair of arms cladded in orange wrapped around her _'Don't tell me...'_ he heart began to race as she turned around to see who was holding her, already knowing who it would be. She turned away to face a familiar blond boy who was snoring slightly she blushed slightly _'What is he doing!_' she wanted to be angry with him for invading her personal space but she couldn't. Matter of fact she was quite happy to be where she was, she studied his features noticing how handsome he was. _'I wonder why I haven't noticed this before'_ his yellow, blond hair that had a certain shine to it because of his fair skin, the whiskers on his face gave him a unique look. She shook her head after catching herself staring him _'What's up with me?'._

Naruto opened his eyes feeling the bed shift under him, he cracked open his eyes "hmm Ino-Chan?" it was then when he saw a pair of sky blue eyes staring at him when he was wide awake. He sat up and suddenly became nervous "Look Ino-Chan I can explain I..." suddenly he felt a pair of warm lips meet his.

Ino stared into his ocean blue eye's when she decided to make her move, she didn't know what she doing but she felt like it needed to be done...scratch that it had to be done or it would never happen. She closed her eyes as she felt his tongue poke at her bottom lip, she was a bit hesitant at first but opened her lips and allowed him to come in.

Naruto acted on instinct and trailed his tongue on her teeth before exploring the rest of her mouth, it wasn't exactly perfect but was pretty good for his first kiss. Ino became bolder and allowed her tongue to explore his mouth before their tongues met and seemed to dance. She pulled away as she remembered they had to breathe. She rested her forehead on his and stared into his eyes. When she came back to her senses she quickly became embarrassed and turned to the other direction. "Naruto I'm sorry I just...".

Naruto intterupted her "Don't worry Ino I actually been wanting to do that to you for a long time now" he paused for a second " I just didn't know how you would react to me, you know because of the fox and all".

"Naruto it never bothered me to know that you had the nine tails inside of you, you shouldn't have worried about that..."

"But Ino, I don't want people to treat you bad just because of me you know some won't be able to accept us"

Ino felt her heart jump at hearing 'us' but decided not to address it now. Her spunk suddenly came back. "And if people can't accept us then tough, we don't need them anyway" she sat up and got out of her bed.

Naruto stared at her in confusion _'Wow it's weird how she changes so fast'_. Naruto then remembered about Ino's parents and _'Her father'_, "Hey Ino? What do you think your dad will when he finds out?" he felt a chill run down his spine, her father could be quite scary at times.

A smirk just appeared on her face as she tilted her head to the side "Well he doesn't need to know now, soo...we just won't tell him". She stated.

Naruto gave a skeptical look "I'm not so sure about that Ino, what happens if he finds out and he gets really upset you know how he is-".

Ino waved her hand "Naruto you're taking this way to seriously, I doubt my father will find out unless it's from us, now I want you to relax ok?". She walked over to him and gave him a peck on the lips to reassure him.

Naruto didn't even care what he was talking about anymore "Uh ok".

"Now leave my room and I'll meet you in a bit ok?"

Naruto was a bit reluctant but decided to go along with "Sure thing Ino-Chan" he hugged her lightly before hoping his way back to his apartment. When he was out of sight Ino let her self fall to the bed with a big grin on her face, she pinched herself to see if she was dreaming before letting out a satisfied sign happy to find out that she wasn't. _'Who would have ever thought that I would end up with Kohana's knuckle headed ninja'_, she never thought about this at all at first. She never considered to hook up with Naruto...matter of fact he was one of the last she would want to hook up with, but of course it was before she even got to know him. She was happy to be with Naruto and she wasn't afraid to show it. An evil smirk appeared on her face _'Matter of fact I think I'll mess with the hotel manager today'_ she stood up and got out clothes to prepare to spend the day with Naruto-kun.

Naruto made his way back to his apartment and decided to take the elevator, he didn't even mind his manager's stares, instead he decided to smile at him and gave him a wave. He chuckled a bit at the grumble he heard come from his manager before closing the elevator _'This has to be the best day of my life'_. Never did he think that he would wind up with Ino Yamanaka, a happy sighed had came from him _'I guess I should actually thank Sakura-Chan for rejecting me, or I probably wouldn't be with Ino-Chan'_. He walked inside of his apartment and decided to put something else on rather than his orange suit, today was special so he needed something special to wear. He wanted this to be a day to remember.

**And that's the end of that chapter, sorry if this chapter sounded a bit to 'happy' but I didn't want to have to popond it any longer, well I hope you enjoyed Review please!!**


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